John Stolarski’s Old Newspaper Clippings

With the exception of his first two years in the Force, John Stolarski spent his entire career as a RCMP Police Dog Services handler (1961 – 1988).

Throughout this career, John clipped newspaper articles about members who he had worked with.

Despite the fact that John has passed away, his family has agreed for us to re-post these articles for the interest of RCMP Veterans and current members of the Force.

DELISLE STAKEOUT SEES MAN ARRESTED

Photograph of the Delisle Credit Union building in Delisle Saskatchewan,.

Delisle – One man was arrested and two others escaped early today as they ran from the Credit Union building here – ringed by an overnight RCMP stakeout.

Police found oxyacetylene cutting gear and a drill lying near a crawl hole cut in the rear wall of the building.  The Credit Union safe contained around $3,500.

Police said the man they picked up was to appear in court at Saskatoon this afternoon. Meanwhile, RCMP combed the Delisle area, 25 miles south of Saskatoon, for the other two men.

A 12-man RCMP squad, headed by RCMP detectives from Saskatoon, staked out the building after the rear wall was found partly cut through Wednesday.

The start of the 16-inch square hole, concealed by a piece of scrap tin, was found Wednesday morning.  Police said it had been cut through by this morning.

Men Run

RCMP said three men ran from the rear of the Credit Union as police approached.  One ran across the street and was picked up while the others ran west through the town.

One of the two was described by police as dark and about 20; the other as ‘fairly tall.’

The building had been entered, police said, but no attempt had been made on the safe and nothing was reported missing.

RCMP said the cutting gear, gas cylinders and torch, found outside the building by the crawl hole, were believed taken from a service station in Saskatoon.

After a 1964-model car, found abandoned here, was rented from a Saskatoon firm, RCMP said.

The Saskatoon RCMP dog, brought here late Wednesday for the stakeout, was being used in the hunt.  RCMP cars check roads out of the district.

POLICE PRESS SEARCH FOR MURDER SUSPECT

RCMP and a police dog scour bhusland near Cookson for man sought for questioning in connection with stabbing of two women at a teacher age.

August 27 – 1962 – Cookson – A hush hung over this tiny community today as police pressed their hunt for a possibly armed suspect in the stabbing death Thursday of two women here.

A car found ditched in brush two-and-one-half miles southwest of here near the home of the husband of one of the dead women.  A rifle was missing from the building.

Found dying in a field near the teacherage where she lived was Mrs. Waring Emele, 20 of Cookson.  Her mother, Mrs. Harold Billesberger, 58, lay dead beside the building.

Police at Prince Albert said they were trying to locate Mrs. Emele’s labourer husband, Waring Holt Emele, 35.  The couple reportedly had been separated about six months.  Married when she was 14, Mrs. Emele had a six-year-old daughter Elaine.

Daughter of Murdered Woman: Elaine Emele six-year-old daughter of one woman and grand daughter of another stabbed to death at Cookson on Thursday is pictured here the day after the double murder occurred. Mrs. Waring Emele, 20, of Cookson, and her mother, Mrs. Harold Billesberger, 58, of nearby Bayview, were stabbed Thursday afternoon outside the teacher age where Mrs. Emele lived. RCMP at Prince Albert today were continuing their search in bush country surrounding the tiny community, 100 miles north of Saskatoon, for a man wanted in questioning in connection with the deaths. RCMP said they were also trying to locate mrs. Emele’s farm laborer husband, Waring Holt Emele, 35.

At the time of the stabbing, the child was with her grandfather, Harold Billesberger, who farms at Bayview, some seven miles east of here.  She spent the night with friends.

Police began at dawn to comb several acres of rain-soaked brush, checked farm buildings and two sloughs near Emele’s home.  Police dogs were brought in from Prince Albert and Saskatoon.

Mrs. Emele had stab wounds in the groin and shoulder.  Mrs. Billisberger had a chest wound.  Police found a six-inch blade hunting knife on the steps of the teacherage.

Mrs. Emele was a Prince Albert National Park worker.  On the day of the stabbing, she was on her day off from the park, and had gone to the teacher age with her mother to check the building and clean up.

Mrs. Dora Gustasson, a Cookson store worker who found the bodies and heard the screams, said Mrs. Emele remained alive for more than 30 minutes after the stabbing.  “She kept moaning ‘help me, help me,'” Mrs. Gustasson said.

Mrs. Gustasson found Mrs. Emele in a field some 15 yards from the teacher age about five minutes after hearing what she termed “terrifying screams.”  Seconds earlier Mrs. Gustasson said “I saw a car come tearing out and go south.”  She referred to the school yard.

“I though I should check and see if the two women were all right.  I was at the steps of the teacher age and then I looked down and I saw this knife … it was all bloody.“

When the screams came from the school yard, Mrs. Gustasson said she was standing close by talking with Mrs. Danny Evans between 3 and 3:30 o’clock Thursday afternoon. “We stood there petrified for a moment,” she said “and then ran into the school yard.”

Mrs. Gustasson ran from the school yard to a service station, about 100 years away and found Mrs. Emele on the ground half way there.  The body of Mrs. Billisberger was found at the corner of the teacher age.

Mrs. Gustasson with the service station owner, Ragnar Bergen, tried to stop Mrs. Emele;s bleeding with tea towels.

The Billisberger’s had five children, Mrs. Emele, Blanche, George, Leo and Frances.

Cookson is three miles from south boundary of Prince Albert National Park and about 32 miles northwest of Prince Albert.

COOKSON FARMER SENTENCED TO HANG IN DEATH OF WIFE

Photograph of the scale of justice statue.

Prince Albert – Waring Holt Emele, 35-year-old Cookson, Sask., farmer, was convicted Wednesday night of capital murder in the August 27 stabbing of his wife, Mary, and was sentenced by Mr. Justice Walter Tucker to be hanged May 11.

A Queen’s Bench court jury deliberated 3 1/2 hours after it was given the case Wednesday evening.  The jury recommended mercy.

Mr. Justice Tucker gave the jury three alternatives at the conclusion of his charge – guilty of capital murder, guilty of non-capital murder or not guilty.

The trial opened Feb. 2 and 41 witnesses were called by the Crown.  The defence did not call a witness.  Counsel gave their summations prior to Mr. Justice Tucker’s charge Wednesday.

Emele was charged with capital murder after the body of his 20-year-old wife was found in a teacher age at Cookson, 100 miles north of Saskatoon.

He was ordered held at the Prince Albert correctional institute pending an automatic appeal granted all persons convicted of capital murder.

The stabbed body of Mrs. Harold Billesberger, Emele’s mother-in-law, was also found at the teacher age, where Mrs. Emele was living at the time.

Emele was arrested after police and volunteer searchers combed the bushes around Cookson for several days after the slaying.

Court was told that an automobile resembling Emele’s was seen to enter the school yard shortly before the women were killed and leave quickly after persons near the scene heard screams.

Witnesses who went to the aid of Mrs. Emele said she did not identify her assailant.

Emile showed no sign of emotion when sentence was handed down.

During its deliberations the jury returned once to ask Mr. Justice Tucker for redirection on several legal points.

NOTE: Waring Emele’s death sentence was reduced to Man Slaughter.

COURTESY ON THE ROADS MEAN ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Photograph of Corporal Andy Calvert (Reg.#16438).

Courtesy on the road would do a lot towards accident prevention on the highways according to Corporal Andy Calvert in his address to the Kinsmen Club at their dinner meeting last Tuesday.

Cpl. Calvert went on to explain that the general public could assist the police, who are maintained by the taxpayers, by conforming to regulations.

Continuing his address, the Corporal told some amusing stories of his first duties in the provincial police which he joined 13 years ago.  He traced his career from his training school days, through the grim tour of duty in the Doukhabor country to the more pleasure time spent in Salmon Arm, Vernon and Armstrong.  It was in Vernon that he first met Eric Murray who is now accountant in the Bank of Montreal, Haney, and who had the pleasure of introducing the guest speaker.

The speaker recalled with some amusement how he tried to find out something about Haney when he found he was to be posted to the district, and how the only information available was out of date and not very helpful.

Stan Bennett expressed appreciation of the club when he thanked Corporal Calvert for his interesting and informative address.

NOTE: Andy Calvert (Reg.#16438) had joined the British Columbia Provincial Police on July 3, 1940 and was assigned the regimental number 861. With the RCMP taking over the provincial policing duties in British Columbia in 1950, Andy became a RCMP member on August 15 1950.  His twin brother also joined the Force as did his son – Victor Calvert (Reg.#20933).   Andy retired from the Force on February 12, 1967 at the rank of Staff Sergeant.  On March 7, 1994, he passed away and was buried in Salmon Arm BC.